Wind turbine technology is providing an ever-increasing proportion of the electrical energy generated in the United States and worldwide. Wind turbines transform kinetic energy, provided by a wind source, into mechanical energy, which may in turn be used to produce electricity. The kinetic energy sourced from the wind may be referred to as wind energy, and the converted mechanical energy may be referred to as wind power. In order to harvest a sufficient amount of wind energy thereby producing a sufficient amount of wind power, a plurality of wind turbines may be arranged in a wind farm. Wind farms have become increasingly popular, due in part to the ability to generate electricity without producing pollution or consuming water, and are increasingly relied upon for high volume electricity generation.
Generators which utilize ecologically friendly “green” technologies, such as wind, solar, or hydro power, are inherently reliant on local environmental conditions in order to generate a sufficient quantity of electricity. In the case of wind turbine technology, the amount of energy produced by a wind turbine is directly related to wind resource which may be defined as meteorological or environmental conditions determined by meteorological variables such as wind speed and air density. The wind resource available may also substantially control the amount of power a wind turbine is able to produce. For example, the local wind speed and air density will affect the amount of force exerted onto the wind turbine blades, which in turn may affect the maximum power output of the wind turbine. In a wind farm, environmental conditions may vary from turbine to turbine. The localized variation in wind energy available is particularly significant in expansive farms which cover a large amount of terrain. Wind gusts, pockets of air pressure change, or other localized differences in environmental conditions should be accounted for when predicting wind power which may be generated by a wind farm.
Wind energy has a long history of technology improvements that drive increased energy generation with reduced cost. A method is needed to evaluate the performance of a wind turbine by quantifying the potential energy generation of a given turbine with a given wind resource. In order to evaluate and improve both the efficiency of wind turbines, as well as to evaluate the desirability of developed turbine technology, a method or system for determining potential wind power which may be generated but is lost during electricity generation is needed.